A scary moment took place in Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday night. In the bottom of the second inning, White Sox batter Brian Goodwin sent a rocket toward the mound and Oakland Athletics starter Chris Bassitt got hit with it in the side of the head.
The line drive was 100.1 miles per hour off the bat and it didn't appear Bassitt got a glove on it. It wasn't a glancing blow, either. It just struck Bassitt squarely on the right side of the face, in the upper cheek area.
Bassitt did not lose consciousness. He was moving around, though not much and he never removed the towel from his head and/or face. The A's said Bassitt was "conscious and aware" as he left the stadium for the hospital on Tuesday night.
The White Sox ended up winning the game, 9-0, over a visibly shaken A's crew. That was hardly the important thing on this night, though, as White Sox manager Tony La Russa pointed out afterward.
"There was a dark cloud around that game the whole time," La Russa said (via Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago, who said La Russa called Bassitt his No. 1 concern).
On Wednesday, the Athletics released another update on Bassitt. He suffered a facial fracture, though his vision was not damaged. He will have surgery in a few days, once the swelling subsides. Here is the team's update:
Chris was released from Rush University Medical Center last night. He received stitches for two facial lacerations and was diagnosed with a displaced tripod fracture in his right cheek that will require surgery. An exam of his right eye was normal for vision and no other damage is currently noted in the eye or the orbital bone. In addition, a head CT scan revealed no further injury. We are grateful to the White Sox, their medical staff, and the doctors and nurses at Rush for their excellent care. We'll have more information on Chris as it becomes available.
Bassitt, 32, entered the game 12-3 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 153 strikeouts in 150 innings. He finished eighth in Cy Young voting last season and was on track to finish better than that in 2021, his first season making the All-Star team. A's writers have mentioned all season that Bassitt is one of the team leaders in the clubhouse.
